Craig and Lauren come from very similar backgrounds. They grew up five minutes from one another in the Denver suburbs for the first 12 years of their lives. Despite growing up so close to each other their paths never crossed and in the 7th grade Lauren moved to Evergreen, CO. While they never met as children, they did have countless connections to each other. One of those connections is Maddie Miller who was Lauren’s elementary school best friends and one of Craig’s good friends in high school. In January of 2020 Lauren brought her puppy (Iggy) home for the first time. Maddie came over to meet him and as Lauren and Maddie were chatting and playing with Iggy Maddie proposed a bold suggestion: "You should date Craig!" After some consideration, stalking his Instagram and thinking he was cute, Lauren said "eh I don't think now is a good time." Fast forward to February 29th, 2020; Craig hosted a Leap Year house party. Maddie showed up with… LAUREN! Lauren vividly remembers walking up to his house and Maddie saying "this is your future husband’s house." No pressure… Craig spent all night talking to everyone at the party except Lauren. FINALLY at the end of the night Craig and Lauren found each other and hit it off! Craig got Lauren’s number and a few days later took Lauren on their first date for coffee at Huckleberry Roasters in downtown Denver. She tripped while walking into the coffee shop and then admitted she didn't even drink coffee. That was all quickly forgotten when they connected on their huge families and love for Wisconsin lake life. After a few “normal dates” the whole dynamic of their relationship was changed by the Covid pandemic. Still, they FaceTimed every day. Lauren knew Craig was special when he left an ice cream cake on her doorstep for her 28th birthday. He knew the way to her heart from very early on!

Craig and Lauren were in Leadville at Craig's parents’ cabin where they love to spend time hiking, fishing, and sitting by the fire playing card games. On the morning of Saturday, October 16th, Craig was acting a bit strange... Some examples include: Asking Lauren if she washed her hair before their hike, suggesting they leave to hike at 10:45 on the dot and stating that it was too cold to go any earlier, pacing, trying to hold Lauren’s hand while hiking, etc. Needless to say, Lauren became a bit suspicious, but was still shocked by the actual proposal. They went on their favorite hike behind the cabin, Lauren was taking photos (typical) and she turned around to find Craig down on one knee. It was a perfect moment and day for a proposal. Craig’s friend Brian was even hiding off the trail in full camouflage snapping photos. The rest of the day consisted of fly fishing and driving the 4-wheeler to the top of a mountain to take in the views and sunset. That night Craig cooked a delicious steak dinner and the two drank Prosecco that Craig’s parents had left chilling in the fridge.